Hair removal through electrolysis has been performed for many years, and through this process, patients have been able to selectively remove hair from certain body areas. Ordinarily, this hair removal process is carried out by inserting an electrified needle into an individual hair follicle. This obviously can be a very painful ordeal and also is unduly time consuming, because only one hair is removed at a time. Typically, a patient is grounded by having the patient hold a ground terminal in her hand or by otherwise affixing a ground terminal a remote distance from the area to be treated by electrolysis. This results in electricity passing through a large area of the patient's body, which in some cases can cause efficiency and conductivity problems and can reduce the effectiveness of the electrolysis treatment. Often, repeat electrolysis treatment sessions are necessary to remove all unwanted hairs from a particular area.
In the early stages of electrolysis, there was much confusion and speculation as to why the process worked. Some investigators, for example, postulated that the hair follicle was "electrocuted". Later, it was determined that the process works because of electrolytic action that gives rise to chemical decomposition in the hair follicle.
Presently, the process of electrolysis as it relates to hair removal is well understood. Within each hair follicle, there is a solution of salt water that provides the chemicals for the electrolysis process to work. Specifically, subjecting the salt water solution to an electric current results in the salt (NaCl) and the water (H.sub.2 O) breaking into their constituent chemical elements. This process is referred to as electrolysis, and the subsequent rearrangement of the basic elements of salt and water is referred to as ionization. One of the new compounds that is formed as a result of the ionization is sodium hydroxide (NaOH). The sodium hydroxide produced is highly caustic to the hair follicle and causes the follicle to die through a decomposition process. The general epithelium of the follicle is killed, rendering the follicle unable to ever produce more hair. After the hair follicle has decomposed, the hair can be removed by an extraction process.
As shown in the patent to Cole (U.S. Pat. No. 5,026,369, hereinafter the "'369 patent"), the method of electrolysis may utilize an electrode solution as a medium for conducting current to the tissue and salt water content of the hair follicles. The electrode solution enhances conductivity because the skin surface and the hairs themselves are less effective conductors of electricity than is the electrode solution.
As pointed out above, hair removal through a conventional electrolysis method, where the skin is actually penetrated with a current-carrying needle, is very painful and slow. Therefore, a need exists for a less painful and more efficient method for removing unwanted hair. A previous attempt to address the problems inherent with traditional electrolysis resulted in the development of the non-invasive method of electrolysis disclosed in the Cole '369 patent. While the '369 patent discloses an electrolysis method that is painless, the method disclosed in the '369 patent is almost as time-consuming as conventional electrolysis with a needle, because both methods only remove one hair at a time. The '369 patent discloses directing an electric current down an individual hair that has been coated with an electrode solution. The '369 patent does not disclose a method of removing a number of hairs from a localized area at the same time. Thus, a need exists for a hair removal method that is both painless and expeditious.